Another Life
by MysticalGoddessOfWords
Summary: Paige does as Walter suggests and invites Tim to the Lake Tahoe Jazz & Heritage Festival, determined to enjoy what was clearly meant to be a romantic weekend getaway. But can she actually go through with it? And just how is Walter handling the knowledge that Paige took him up on his idiotic offer? Set after the Season 2 finale 02x24. AU
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Scorpion but you probably knew that by now.

I know I've been MIA and I still have to post the final chapter of _Salty Sweet_ but life has just been crazy. My hubby is opening an art gallery and I've been up to my eyeballs helping him. Sometimes it's harder to go back and edit a chapter that's already written than to write something new from scratch as evidenced by _Apology_ and now this. But I will get the end of _Salty Sweet_ edited and post after things calm down next week. Thanks to everyone who keeps nudging me and for your patience.

Also I like to personally reply to all my reviews but I'm behind on those too. I'll get caught up soon.

So this was written before I watched tonight's finale so it clearly doesn't follow canon….… but is my version of what could happen when Paige and Tim go to Tahoe. This will be 2 chapters and the second one is mostly written but I won't have a chance to look at it again to finish and edit until the weekend.

Anyway, as always, thanks for reading and reviewing.

Enjoy!

* * *

 ** _Another Life_**

Tim pushed the door to their hotel room open and stood back to allow Paige to enter before him. The one bedroom suite was rustic but comfortably appointed with warm colors. A small kitchenette was just to the right of the door; there was a wood burning fireplace in one corner of the living room and a hot tub in the other. To the left was the door to the bedroom and, from her vantage point, Paige could see a king size bed and, just beyond, a plate glass window that looked out over the lake.

It was just after seven in the evening and Paige could see the last vestiges of the sunset glistening on the water and the sight was breathtaking.

"Nice digs," Tim said casually as he set their suitcases on the floor next to the sofa.

"Why are we in a suite?" she asked curiously as she stepped deeper into the room.

Tim shrugged. "It's the room Walter booked as part of his festival package I guess."

It didn't look like the kind of room Walter would reserve.

"Tim, we didn't have to stay in the room Walter booked," Paige said as she turned to look at him. "We could have gotten a regular room. This is too expensive," she insisted with a frown. The suite was clearly designed for a romantic weekend getaway and her stomach twisted a little at the thought that Walter was supposed to be sharing this suite with Linda.

"The clerk said the lodge is booked solid because of the festival," Tim replied as he walked into the bedroom to get a better look at the lake. "Besides look at this view."

Tim let out a low whistle and Paige followed him into the bedroom. She ignored the large bed in the center refusing to contemplate the implications of the fact that Walter had deliberately booked a suite that only had one bed.

"You have to let me at least pay for half then," Paige replied as she stepped up beside him. "I invited you and it's only right."

"Not a chance," He scoffed good-naturedly as he opened the window to let the cool night air into the room. "A gentleman doesn't let a woman pay for something like this."

She rolled her eyes. "I never took you for a sexist."

He laughed as he turned to face her. "Nothing sexist about this. It doesn't matter who invited whom, my mama would box my ears if she found out I allowed a woman pay for a hotel room."

"So your mother is the sexist then?" Paige teased as she smirked.

"Absolutely," he agreed and grinned with no hint of embarrassment. "Besides, the room was already paid for."

"Huh?" Paige said as her smirk faded and her brows furrowed in confusion.

"The room was prepaid in full by Walter when it was booked. I just had to put my credit card down for incidentals."

Paige bit her lower lip. "Then I'll take it up with Walter when we get back," she murmured to herself. When he'd offered the room to her before she left the garage that night, he implied that he almost forgot he'd even booked it. But clearly he'd put some thought into it to have paid for it completely in advance. Paige's stomach twisted again.

"In the meantime, why don't we go get some dinner? That was a long drive," Tim suggested as he stepped closer to her.

She wasn't sure she could even eat but Paige smiled and nodded her head.

He pressed his hand to the small of her back and guided her out of the bedroom and toward the door. She felt his fingers gently caress the silk fabric of her shirt. He'd done that on every one of their dates. Tim was very tactile and it was something she wasn't used to. But it felt good.

It felt incredibly good to feel wanted for a change.

As they stepped into the lodge hallway, Paige stopped and looked over at him.

"Everything okay?" he asked with a curious arch of his brow.

"I just…." she paused not sure what she was planning to say to him. "Thanks for coming with me," she finally said genuinely as her lips curved.

"Thanks for asking." He grasped her hand and entwined their fingers before lifting the other hand to sweep her hair behind her ear. "Now what do you feel like eating?"

Paige's ears had always been incredibly sensitive and the gentle caress should have made her shiver, but it didn't. Instead she pushed down the longing for another man's hands caressing her as she let Tim lead her away to dinner.

##############

"Hey, Walt, do you want to get pizza with me and Ralph?"

Walter looked up from the computer screen he'd been blankly staring at for the past few hours. He'd gotten nothing productive accomplished the entire day because he couldn't get the thought of Paige and Tim alone in Tahoe, together, out of his mind.

"I'm not hungry," Walter said brusquely.

He sat back in his chair and looked at the clock. They should have been there by now. They left early enough in the day after having dropped Ralph off at the garage. He was spending the weekend with Sly and Walter couldn't help feeling a little resentful that Paige hadn't asked him to watch Ralph.

But that was nothing compared to the resentment that had been brewing under his skin all week long, ever since Paige invited Tim to the jazz festival. But it was Walter's own fault. If he hadn't been such a coward and had just asked Paige to go to the festival with him, then he wouldn't be sitting here obsessing over what Paige and Tim were doing. Or what they very likely would be doing at some point over the weekend.

Just thinking about it made him nauseous. He knew it was a colossal mistake as soon as the words "with Tim" had come out of his mouth. He thought Happy was going to reach across the garage and slap him. And he wouldn't have blamed her.

After Paige and Ralph left Happy stomped over to his desk and glared at him. But when he looked up at her, she faltered and he wondered what she saw on his face that made her change her mind about berating him. He was just glad she did because there was nothing she could have said that was worse than he was saying to himself.

After a restless and sleepless night, he had decided to tell Paige the truth. When he heard her arrive at the garage the next morning he was halfway down the stairs on his way to her when the call from Mark Collins came in and they learned Toby had been kidnapped. By the time the team rescued him and they all had a moment to breathe with relief, he overheard Paige asking Tim if he wanted to go to the festival and Walter realized he'd lost his chance.

And now Walter feared that Happy was right – he was going to lose Paige all together, all because he was incapable to telling her how he felt.

"Walter?" Ralph's voice rang out from beside him and Walter turned to look at him.

"Hey, buddy, what's up?"

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us? You haven't eaten anything all day."

Walter's lips curved up because Ralph sounded just like his mother. Paige always had to remind him to eat and often scolded him when she would come in on Monday morning to find he'd hardly eaten anything all weekend long. He never could figure out how she knew but she did.

Walter wanted to refuse but the young genius was looking at him with the same worried look as his mother often gave him and Walter suspected that look would be his undoing one day.

"I guess I should eat something," he agreed even though he didn't want anything.

Walter was rewarded with a wide smile, yet another physical trait Ralph inherited from his mother.

"Cool," Ralph exclaimed as he turned to Sylvester. "He's gonna come with us Sly."

"Good, let's go. My blood sugar is plummeting."

"I just have to do one thing," Walter said as he grabbed his tablet and started typing. "I'll meet you in the car, okay, bud."

"Okay," Ralph replied before he followed Sly out the front door. "I call shotgun," he called out to the mathematician and Walter vaguely registered Sylvester's protest as the door slammed shut.

He quickly hacked into the Cedar Glen Lodge reservation system and found that the suite he'd reserved was now occupied and Tim had put his credit card down for incidentals. He quickly hacked into the lobby cameras and rewound them until he saw Tim standing at the front desk checking in. A few seconds later Paige walked up and Tim put his hand on the small of her back. They were laughing and chatting and Paige was smiling at him.

At least he knew they'd made it safely but suddenly Walter was feeling nauseated again.

###############

Tim held the door open for Paige again as she entered the suite.

"So is that how you got the job?" Paige asked as she tossed her purse on the coffee table. Tim had been sharing Navy Seal stories all throughout dinner; at least the ones that weren't classified.

He mainly shared humorous ones but despite how funny they were, Paige couldn't help but think that his Seal team was way more dysfunctional than her geniuses would ever be.

"Well I look cool in sunglasses, too, so that kind of clinched it," Tim replied with a straight face but it quickly slipped as his lips curved as Paige chuckled in response.

"And so very modest too," Paige teased as she toed off her sandals, lifting them with her fingers and walking into the bedroom. She dropped them just inside the door before walking into the bathroom.

She used the facilities and then washed her hands, looking at herself in the mirror. Her cheeks were flushed from the wine she drank at dinner and her eyes a little glassy. She knew having that third glass of wine probably wasn't the wisest choice but she needed a little liquid courage for what was likely coming.

She splashed a little cold water on her face before walking back into the bedroom to find Tim sitting on the end of the bed checking his phone. He had brought her suitcase into the bedroom and set on the dresser against the wall.

"So what time does this thing start tomorrow?" He asked as he looked up.

"I think the tickets said ten," Paige replied as she walked to the dresser and unzipped her suitcase. "It's an all day thing but we don't have to go that early."

Tim stood up and walked over to her. Paige stilled when she felt his hands on her hips.

Before they arrived, Paige had assumed any room that Walter had booked would have two beds. Although she also assumed she and Tim would likely share only one of them, just having a second one would at least gave her an out if she wanted to slow things down. They had yet to talk about sleeping arrangements but as Tim lifted one hand and brushed her hair over her shoulder, Paige knew what he assumed.

"Tim," she said his name as she met his eyes in the dresser mirror. She could see his desire for her and watched as he lowered his head. When his lips brushed softly over the nape of her neck, she released a breathy sigh.

Paige wasn't sure she was ready for this but the way he looked at her made her, once again, feel wanted. It had been _so long_ since she'd felt desired by a man and she couldn't help the soft moan that escaped her lips.

Clearly encouraged, Tim took that as an invitation to turn her around and kiss her.

As Tim's lips met hers, Paige closed her eyes and let her head fall back. She lifted her hands and gripped his shoulders gently as his arms came around her, trapping her against his chest. Slowly the kiss deepened as Paige lifted her hands and slid them into his short hair just as Tim turned them and walked her slowly backward toward the bed.

Over the course of their handful of dates, he'd kissed her goodnight each time. But the kisses were brief and nothing like this one. She hadn't been kissed like this in a very long time, slow and sensual and thorough. But unlike the kiss she shared with Walter almost a year ago, which was frantic and desperate and messy and passionate, Tim's kiss didn't steal her breath or make her dizzy.

Vaguely Paige realized she shouldn't be comparing Tim's kisses to Walters, particularly because she and Walter only kissed once and she and Tim had shared more. But she couldn't help it. The lips currently moving against hers were not the ones she wanted.

Before Paige could register their movements, Tim was guiding and urging her back onto the bed. He leaned over her and deepened the kiss further as his hand slowly travel up the side of her body, over her ribcage until his fingertips were gently caressing the underside of her breast.

Paige tried to respond, wishing she could lose herself in it and in him for one night. But despite his attention and attempt, there was no heat to it, at least not for Paige.

It didn't feel right because it wasn't the touch she wanted.

"Tim," Paige mumbled his name as she pulled her lips away and pushed on his chest at the same time. "I can't do this."

Tim lifted his head and looked down at her. The desire she saw in his eyes, even more intense than a few minutes ago, was humbling but she only wanted to see that kind of desire in one pair of eyes.

Why was everything she wanted tied up in a man who didn't want her back?

"What's wrong?" Tim asked. "Are we going too fast?"

Paige wiggled out from beneath him and sat up. He sat up beside her and she could feel his eyes on her as she rubbed her hands over her face.

"It's not that," Paige replied her tone laced with regret. "I just…." For once Paige struggled with words when they normally came so easily to her. She looked over at him and saw the confusion in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Tim. I haven't been fair to you at all."

Tim shifted slightly and Paige didn't need to look at his lap to know why he was uncomfortable. "You have nothing to apologize for, Paige. Why don't you just tell me what's wrong? Did I do something wrong here?"

"No," Paige replied quickly as she reached for his hand and squeezed it. "It's not you. I….I shouldn't have….," Paige paused briefly and exhaled a long breath before continuing. "I knew what this invitation looked like and I thought I could do it. But I can't."

"If you're not ready for this, that's okay," Tim reassured her softly as he squeezed her hand back. "We can take this at whatever pace you're comfortable with."

Paige smiled gratefully and she reached up and caressed his cheek. "In another life, Tim, I could have easily fallen in love with you," Paige said softly and the confusion in his eyes slowly morphed into understanding.

"But not in this one." A small almost sad smile curved her lips at the disappointed tone of his voice. "Because you're already in love with Walter," he finished and it was a statement rather than a question.

She held his gaze and finally nodded her head slowly but was unable to force the confirmation past her lips. Admitting it to herself was one thing but saying it out loud to anyone else was another. Her feelings for Walter were inconsequential. He'd made that very obvious.

"I knew it was a long shot, but you can't blame a man for trying," Tim said as he sighed.

"I shouldn't have led you on."

"You didn't," he insisted. "I think deep down I knew but I just hoped maybe I was reading it wrong. Anyone with eyes can see how he feels about you but you're very good at keeping your feelings close to the vest."

"I have well over a year of practice," she admitted quietly.

"I have to say I was surprised when you asked me. I was even more surprised Walter hadn't asked you to go with him but then again it's obvious he's desperately trying to deny his feelings."

"Walter is a master at denying and suppressing his emotions," Paige agreed because it was the truth.

Tim reached up and brushed a few strands of hair behind her ear again. "If it's any consolation, I'm fairly certain he's in love with you too. He just lets that big brain of his get in the way."

Paige shook her head. "Walter doesn't believe in the concept of love."

"Then he's lying through his teeth. And if you're being honest with yourself, you know that too."

And deep down she did know. Or at least she suspected. Or maybe it was just hope that got a little more shattered with each woman Walter pursued who wasn't her.

"It doesn't matter, Tim, whether he feels anything for me because he's unwilling to act on it. He'd rather just push me toward you or probably anyone, at this point."

Paige knew she sounded bitter but she couldn't help it. She could see the pity in Tim's eyes and it was almost as unbearable was it was to see the indifference in Walter's.

"Maybe we should just go home," she murmured as she stood up.

Tim stood and grabbed her forearm gently, halting her retreat. "Hey, Paige, look….. we just drove over eight hours to get here. Now if you really want me to take you home I can have you there by the time the sun comes up."

Paige realized she couldn't ask Tim to drive another eight hours back tonight but the thought of staying here with him, in the room Walter had booked for him and Linda to share made her just want to get the hell out.

"If you still want to leave tomorrow morning, we'll go," he offered. "But how about we just enjoy this weekend as friends? No hanky panky," he said lightly as he smirked and she couldn't help the soft chuckle that left her lips. He really was a sweet guy, one that would probably be very good for her, if only she opened herself up to him.

"It's been a hell of a week," Tim continued as his voice took on a more serious tone as they were both reminded of Toby's kidnapping. "And you deserve to relax a little. Come on," he encouraged, "we'll do some sightseeing, eat some good food, listen to some jazz tomorrow night and then we'll go back on Sunday after having a great weekend on Walter's dime."

Paige couldn't help it she laughed out loud. Leave it to Tim to lighten the moment enough to make her laugh. That was something he was very good at and a small part of her wished she felt something for him. It would be so much easier.

But she didn't want easy. She wanted Walter with all his awkwardness and obliviousness and low EQ. And despite his stupidity for throwing her at Tim, Paige wasn't willing to give up on him just yet.

"I guess it's a good thing Walter had the forethought to ask for a room with a sleeper sofa, Huh?"

"What?" Paige asked.

"The woman at the check-in desk said he was very insistent that the suite have a sleeper sofa. Maybe this weekend wasn't so much of a romantic weekend as you thought."

Paige tucked her bottom lip beneath her teeth as she mulled over Tim's words.

"So what do you say?" Tim asked gently as he stepped closer to her before he grinned mischievously. "You want to take a chance on a handsome Seal, who looks killer in sunglasses, to show you a good, platonic time this weekend?"

Paige laughed and slid her arms around his waist as she hugged him. His suggestion was just what she needed.

"I'll take that as a yes," he murmured as he hugged her back.

################

Walter turned his head to stare at the clock for the sixty seventh time in the last one hundred and fifty eight minutes. It was just after three in the morning and he had yet to fall asleep as the night crawled by at a snail's pace.

Every hour, every minute, every second that ticked by was one more that taunted him, reminding him that he was here alone while Paige was in Tahoe with Tim.

Every time Walter closed his eyes all he could see were Paige and Tim together, the Seal's hands all over her, making her whimper and moan writhe and it made Walter's palms sweat. His stomach was in a constant state of nausea and it felt like there was an elephant sitting on his chest making it difficult to breathe.

But then again, maybe that was just Ferret Bueller who was currently sleeping on his chest. The small animal seemed about as restless and agitated as Walter was most of the night and had chattered in his cage, loudly and incessantly, until Walter finally let him out.

The ferret scurried across the loft apartment to one of the chairs in the main living area which had a sweater of Paige's hanging over the back. She'd left it there a few days earlier and the small animal tugged it down and only calmed down once he'd curled up on it.

When Walter had finally shut off the lights and headed to his bedroom, he heard scurrying again in the living room. A few minutes later Ferret Bueller climbed up onto Walter's bed dragging Paige's sweater in his teeth. He crawled all over the genius until the ferret finally settled his chest with the sweater bunched under his small body.

The soft lingering scent of Paige's lavender perfume surrounded him but that still didn't calm him the way her scent usually did.

And it was just one more thing taunting him and reminding him he was an idiot who very likely just lost the woman he loved.

* * *

Thanks again for reading.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Another Life_**

Disclaimer: I don't own Scorpion or the characters. I only own my very crazy ideas of the things the characters can do to and with each other…. ;-)

Please remember this story was initially written before the finale aired so it is in no way canon. No Happy being married… no Toby singing a proposal…. and no Walter following Paige and Tim to Tahoe.

Although since seeing the finale I have decided to write my own version of Walter going after Paige. That's one of the reasons this chapter took so long to finish. I had to rewrite it because much of what I had here I want to use in that story so this one had to be reworked.

Anyway, this 2nd chapter got way too long so I've broken it into two. The 3rd and final chapter will be posted in a couple of days….. and that chapter is the one that earns this story its rating… surprise surprise coming from me…

Thanks, as always, for reading and reviewing and enjoy!

* * *

 ** _Chapter 2_**

Sunday evening had come faster than Walter anticipated and, yet, not fast enough.

Between obsessing over all the possible scenarios of what Paige and Tim were doing together….. to each other…. very likely naked….. and Ferret Bueller's agitation, which seemed to rival his own, Walter hadn't slept a wink all weekend.

Every hour that ticked by Walter's mood worsened as he silently and verbally berated himself for being a coward and not asking Paige to accompany _him_ to Tahoe. Instead she was off with the former Seal, doing god knows what, while he was here with a very anxious ferret. In what universe did he really believe he could live with the consequences of that idiotic decision?

Walter had no doubt Paige and Tim would come back from their _romantic weekend getaway_ all aglow and, very likely, _officially_ dating, and the thought made Walter want to vomit.

He'd pushed the woman he loved into another man's arms. For a genius he was a colossal idiot sometimes.

As the full implication of his acceptance rushed through him, Walter expelled a shaky breath.

He.

Loved.

Paige.

He'd been denying it for so long, denying the very existence of romantic love, that Walter thought it would be harder to accept. But it was impossible to deny any longer that what he felt, for the woman who had become essential to very existence, was love. There was no other explanation, logical or illogical, for this all encompassing and all consuming feeling that invaded every inch of his being.

Everyone told him love was supposed to make him euphoric…. so why did it make him ache instead?

Ferret Bueller scurried up his pant leg and onto his lap as Walter sat at his desk. He was alone in the garage and the silence was only punctuated with the incessant chattering of the small animal that wouldn't leave him alone.

"What the hell, Bueller?" Walter scowled as the ferret continued up onto his desk and sprawled across the keyboard making it impossible for Walter to work. Although he'd been entirely unproductive all weekend, work was the only thing that was even remotely keeping his brain from imagining Tim's hands all over Paige.

Walter swallowed back the bile that rose into his throat at the thought. To keep his hands from clenching, he absently reached out to pet the ferret and stroked his fur gently just as the door to the garage opened.

Walter looked over to find Toby and Happy walk in the door. "What are you two doing here?"

"Rude much, 197?" Toby smirked as he walked toward his desk. "I'm almost killed by Collins and that's all you have to say to me?"

"Don't engage him," Happy warned Walter as she shook her head. "He's milking the 'I almost died' card for all it's worth."

"As I should," Toby retorted as he pulled out the bottom right drawer of his desk and grabbed one of his many hats. "I know we _all_ almost get killed _a lot_ but not usually at the hands of a former colleague."

"Give it a rest, doc," Happy said as she rolled her eyes. But Walter could see on her face that she was only giving Toby a hard time because she could. The behaviorist had given all of them a scare especially the mechanic.

Walter looked between the two of them and wondered how they managed to balance being colleagues and lovers. Paige had always said it could be done. But her confidence in their friends' ability to not let their relationship affect the work at Scorpion hadn't rubbed off on him. Walter continued to be hesitant and worried that the team would be impacted negatively.

But after the events of the previous week, the way Happy managed to keep her cool and stay focused when Toby was missing, and the way Toby trusted her cognitive and mechanical skills to get him out of the trap Collins had rigged, proved to Walter that, despite the fact they were involved, they could keep their heads straight in a crisis.

Walter wasn't very often proven wrong and it never sat well with him. But he found himself content that he was, this time, because it was clear his two friends were happy.

Regardless, he worried if he and Paige were in a relationship that he wouldn't be able to think straight if she were in danger. He managed to do it now, just barely, but the thought of her life at risk and him making an emotional, rather than logical decision, to try to save her, the possibilities of error could be the difference between life and death. Despite how he felt about her he couldn't risk her like that.

"Why are you here?' Walter asked again as he leaned back in his chair. "You're supposed to be taking the weekend off."

Toby walked over to Walter's desk and reached out to pet Ferret Bueller before pointing to his head. "I needed a hat."

Ferret Bueller continued licking his belly as he lay sprawled over Walter's keyboard and Happy pointed as she approached the desk from the other side.

"He usually only hangs out on Paige's desk. What's up with that?"

"He's missing her," Walter murmured, the words slipping out before he could stop them. He felt exactly the same way although he would never admit it out loud.

Happy gave him an odd look but didn't press. Walter had no doubt she interpreted his meaning, particularly after their conversation the night he mucked everything all up, and he was grateful she let it go.

Walter picked Ferret Bueller up off his keyboard and set him off to the side. The ferret had been all over him all weekend, almost like he knew Walter was upset and it had to do with Paige. But, of course, that was completely illogical. There was no way the ferret could possibly know that. It was just completely illogical.

And although Walter hadn't slept, he still made the attempt. On Friday night the ferret chattered incessantly in his cage until Walter let him out. The small animal then dragged Paige's sweater onto his chest and slept soundly while Walter lay awake all night with the scent of her surrounding him and leaving a knot in his stomach the size of a fist.

Ferret Bueller climbed into bed with Walter, again, on Saturday night but the genius tucked the ferret beside him because having Paige's sweater that close to his nose just made him ache for her all the more.

Despite how illogical Walter thought it was to physically ache for another person, it was the only way he could describe what he was feeling. Knowing Paige was going on dates with Tim was one thing. Paige was responsible when it came to Ralph and she wasn't the kind of woman who would bring any man home to her bed when her son was sleeping in the next room. So the thought of Paige and Tim engaging in sexual intercourse was not something Walter even considered.

But they were away together, alone in a hotel room, and there was no reason for Paige to turn away Tim's advances. Especially if she wanted them. And that was the part that seemed to consume Walter the most, making his head spin and his heart pound and his palms sweat.

Did Paige want Tim's advances?

She was a beautiful, normal, healthy woman and everyone had physical needs that needed to be met from time to time.

Even Walter had them. He hadn't had those needs met, by anyone but himself, since before Paige came into his life though. His and Janice's brief relationship had ended before he felt the need to accommodate her in that way. Perhaps that's why his few relationships had always failed. Although he felt an attraction to the few women he attempted to date he didn't feel the need to have sex with them. The relationships always ended, usually badly, before he felt comfortable enough to let them touch him. But Walter wondered now that, perhaps, he just hadn't met the woman he wanted to touch him.

Because Paige consumed him. Thoughts of her. Desire for her. From the moment she walked into his life, even before he realized what it was, she challenged his long held beliefs that romantic love was a myth. He always believed the desire for touch and kiss was junk science. But as it turned out his theory was junk science because his fingers itched to touch her and his body longed for her touch.

Her touch was the only one he'd ever been comfortable with.

Touch and kissing had never held much appeal for Walter and he only indulged the few women he dated because it seemed to be expected. But he _wanted_ to kiss Paige long before their kiss in the garage after he got out of rehab. It was all Walter could think about for weeks. It was illogical but he could have sworn he could taste her on his lips for just as long. He was very good at pretending he was unaffected by her, he had long practiced that subterfuge, but the closer they became as friends and the longer she spent in his life, the more he yearned for her, the more he wanted to touch and kiss every inch of her.

And the thought of Tim doing all those things to her made Walter clench both his teeth and hands.

"Yo, Walt," Toby said as he waved his hand in front of Walter's face. "Did you even hear anything I said just now?"

"Huh?" Walter said as he focused his attention back on the two geniuses in front of him.

"Apparently not," Happy muttered as she and Toby shared a look.

Walter scowled and was about to snap at both of them when the door opened again and Paige and Tim entered, both of them laughing lightheartedly at something.

Walter felt all the air leave his lungs and his eyes zeroed in on Tim's hand on the small of Paige's back.

Seeing them together was like a punch in the gut and Walter knew right then and there that he wasn't going to be able to function having to see the two of them together all the time. And suppressing his feelings for her was no longer going to work.

"What are you doing here?" Walter said sharply before he could bite his tongue.

Paige turned to look at him surprised by the venom in his tone.

"What the hell is with you today?" Happy asked before Paige could respond.

"Yeah, you're ruder than normal," Toby added just as Paige spoke up.

"I'm picking up Ralph," she said before she asked a bit cautiously. "Is everything alright?"

"Ralph isn't here," Walter said rather than answer her question. He picked up Ferret Bueller and stood, tossing the small animal over his shoulder. Just looking at her made it hard for him to breathe and he had to get out of there before he said or did something he'd regret.

The door opened a third time and Ralph and Sly walked in. "Yes I am," Ralph replied having heard Walter's statement through the open window as he and Sly approached.

"Hi baby," Paige said happily as she held open her arms. Ralph hugged her briefly before stepping back. "I missed you," Paige said as she ran her fingers through his hair and leaned down to kiss the top of his head.

Walter scoffed under his breath and Paige turned her head frowning at him. "What's wrong with you today?"

"He's been pissy since we got here," Happy offered as she leaned against the side of Walter's desk.

"If no one likes my attitude, you can all leave." Walter was lashing out and he knew he sounded petulant and childish but he'd reached his breaking point.

Toby eyed him curiously. "Something is obviously bothering you, Walt. Do you want to talk about it?"

"No!" Walter snapped. "There is nothing to talk about. My mood is fine."

"Then why did you scoff like that?" Paige asked as she eyed him narrowly. He hated when she gave him that look because it usually meant he had disappointed her in some way. And it just made him more agitated.

"I have the right to my opinion that the new romances around here are detrimental to the team and to Ralph's well being."

As soon as the words left his lips Walter knew he'd really put his foot in it.

"Excuse me?" Paige said in a low tone as she instinctively tugged Ralph back against her.

"Hey now, Walter, you're out of line," Tim said just as Paige continued over him.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," Walter muttered as he lowered Ferret Bueller and grasped him in one hand. The ferret chattered excitedly and wiggled but Walter ignored him. The small animal clearly wanted to go to Paige but if Walter had to keep his distance so did the ferret.

Ralph pulled away from his mother's grasp and looked at Walter with curious eyes. Walter avoided his gaze because the young boy's eyes were too similar to his mother's.

"That wasn't nothing," Toby said cautiously. "Maybe you should just step away Walter before you say something we'll all live to regret."

"No, I want an answer," Paige demanded as she crossed her arms. "Are you accusing me of neglecting my son?"

"Clearly going away with Tim this weekend was your priority."

"And there he goes saying something we'll all live to regret," Toby muttered under his breath as he threw his hands up in the air. "Ooomph," he coughed as Happy elbowed him in the stomach.

"How dare you?" Paige said in the low dangerous tone that all the geniuses, including her son, had learned was the one she used when she was about to kick your ass. She very rarely used it but it rightfully frightened them all. "Walter, you and I need to talk alone."

"I don't want to talk," Walter scowled and he turned and stomped toward the stairs. "If you'll excuse me."

"Walter," Paige called after him. "Damn it, don't you dare walk away from me," she growled under her breath before starting to follow him. Tim grasped her elbow.

"Maybe you should give him some space," Tim said quietly. "He obviously thinks there is something different going on than there actually is."

Paige pulled her arm away firmly and sighed as she looked at him. "Tim, I know how to handle Walter. You need to stay out of this."

"But-" he started to reply but Paige shook her head.

"No, Tim," she insisted. "Despite what this looks like this has nothing to do with you."

"Oh, I think this has everything to do with Tim," Toby said as he dropped down into Walter's chair and put his feet up on the desk.

"Toby, you need to shut up," Happy warned as she slapped his feet down.

"Why he is so upset?" Sly asked anxiously having been quiet up until that moment.

"Mom?" Ralph said as he looked up at his mother. Paige reached out and ruffled his hair gently, causing the young genius to shake his head, clearly not liking it. "Why is Walter so mad?"

"Don't worry about Walter, sweetheart. Whatever is bothering him he'll get over it once he calms down."

"Actually he'll get over it when you go up there and kick his butt, which you really need to do," Happy said directly to Paige with a pointed look.

"Maybe I should go talk to him," Tim offered. "Explain about-"

"No," Paige said again. "He's clearly angry at me so I'll handle this. You should probably go, though, Tim."

Paige reached over and hugged Tim lightly. "Thanks for the nice weekend. And for understanding," she whispered the last words against his ear softly so the others couldn't hear them.

"Good luck with him," Tim replied softly.

"Oh he's the one who's going to need luck," Paige muttered as she pulled away and started toward the stairs.

"Uh, Sly," Ralph said as he watched his mother follow Walter. "Maybe you should take me to dinner."

"I think we should all go to dinner," Toby said as he jumped up out of the chair. "That includes you too, Tim. I don't think any of us want to be here for what comes next. Ow!" Toby rubbed his side. "Stop hitting me woman!"

"Then stop being a dickhead."

"Take money from my purse," Paige called down the stairs having heard them all. "This may take a while."

"Oh, that's so not going to go well at all," Toby muttered and there was a hum of agreement all around, even from the youngest Scorpion member, who watched his mother closely as she disappeared from sight.

###########

Paige walked into Walter's loft to find him with his hands braced against the counter. His shoulders were tense and his body was rigid. His lips were curved down into a scowl and she could see from the outline of his jaw that he was clenching his teeth.

"Walter," she said his name as she walked closer. Ferret Bueller sat in front of him chattering almost angrily until the animal saw her, then he launched himself at her as she stepped up beside the genius.

"Oh," she said, startled, as she caught him. The ferret burrowed against her chest before climbing up and tucking his head beneath her hair, chattering excitedly.

"What is going on with the two of you today?" Paige asked, more to herself, as she pulled the ferret away from her neck and set him down on the counter again. He pawed at her arm wanting her attention but she ignored him as she watched Walter breathe heavily.

"Walter what is wrong with you?" Paige asked as she frowned at the genius in front of her. "Where do you get off saying something like that to me, especially in front of Ralph?"

"Paige, please, you really should go right now," Walter said quietly avoiding her question for the second time.

"No." Since he wouldn't look at her, Paige walked around the other side of the counter to face him. Ferret Bueller followed her and latched on to her forearm. "I don't know why you're so upset but even when you are you've never been nasty like that to me."

Walter pushed off the counter and walked toward the living room without responding.

"Walter, stop walking away from me," Paige growled as she followed him.

"Then stop walking away from me!" he exclaimed as he clenched his fists.

Paige looked at him confused. "What are you talking about?"

He knew she had no idea why he was so upset and as angry as he was at her and Tim and the world, in general, he was angrier at himself for not keeping his emotions in check.

He finally sighed heavily. "I apologize for lashing out at you but I can't do this with you right now."

"Can't do what?" she almost screeched very close to reaching her limit.

Walter whirled around to face her. "Just go back to your boyfriend!"

Paige stepped back in surprise as he looked at her, shocked at the tormented look in his eyes. Her anger dissipated slightly as it turned more to worry.

"Why are you so angry?" she asked now using her normal calm tone. Walter always responded best when she approached him like that. "What happened while I was gone to make you act like this?"

He stared at her and Paige gasped softly as a myriad of emotions passed over his face. Walter was more emotional that he believed he was and even though he was capable of keeping those emotions in check, the majority of the time, when he let them out they usually came crashing out like a tidal wave.

His eyes were tortured; that was the only way she knew how to describe it. They were a little wild and she could tell he wanted to say something but after he opened and closed his mouth several times without any sound coming out, Paige stepped closer.

"Walter, talk to me."

"Please don't come any closer," he pleaded causing Paige to stop abruptly. He continued to look at her for another minute before he physically deflated in front of her. His head dropped and he stared at the floor. When he finally spoke his voice was laced with what Paige would only describe as despair.

"I thought I could do this but I can't. I…I…I just need to bury this down again and I'll be fine but I need you to leave me alone so I can. I can't do it when you're here standing in front of me."

"Walter you're not making any sense. What can't you do?"

Walter turned and walked toward his bedroom area. Paige shook her head, frustrated with his avoidance but she followed albeit hesitantly.

"Have I done something to upset you?" He didn't answer and she took that to mean she did. "Walter please talk to me."

He still didn't answer, instead focusing on her breathing. The even steady rhythm always seemed to calm him when he was worked up. Paige waited but just when she was about to give up, and leave him alone, he spoke almost too quietly for her to hear.

"I can't look at you with him."

"Who? Are you talking about Tim?" she asked even though she knew.

"Yes!" he replied exasperated as he whirled around to look at her again. "Of course I'm talking about Tim. I can't…. the thought that he…. knowing you….you've….." He couldn't bring himself to say the words or even so much as finish the thought.

"But you pushed me toward him."

"I know that!" he blurted out angrily. It felt like he was angry at the entire world right now but mainly he was angry at himself for his idiocy. "You think I don't know that? You think I don't know this is all my fault. I pushed you into his arms and now I have to live with the consequences but it…it's worse than I thought it would be."

"You made it clear you didn't have feelings for me so I don't understand why you care," she said as she crossed her arms.

"Because I love you!' he exclaimed as he threw his arms out to his sides in surrender.

"What?" Paige gasped and lifted her hand to her mouth. Her eyes widened with shock. "But you don't believe in love," she said her voice barely a whisper.

"Yeah well you changed that," he said miserably and if she wasn't so shocked Paige might have had to choke back a laugh at how wretched he sounded.

"Walter," she said his name but he just kept talking.

"You've changed everything and now I can't go back. I tried to push it down. For the greater good I tried to bury it and now you're with Tim," Walter made a face as he said the former Seal's name, "And I can't breathe thinking about him t…t…touching you and you being with him and you engaging in s….s….sexual intercourse with him…." Paige's eyes widened at his words and she felt her face flush but Walter just keeping rambling on and on as his voice got louder and his breathing shallower. "….and that's never mattered to me until now and you've ruined me…"

"Walter," Paige tried again but he was too lost in his dialogue.

"Now I can't go back before you got in here…" He slammed his fist against the left side of his chest. "And I never wanted this. I never wanted this….but now I can't fathom my life without you. And now I've lost you to him and how do I-?

"Walter," Paige called his name louder because he hadn't heard the two other times she'd said it.

He stopped abruptly and looked at her panting harshly. "What?"

"Not that I owe you any kind of explanation right now but Tim and I aren't together."

Walter's eyes widened and he stood stock still as her words registered. Then he bent over and placed his hands on his knees as a sound that sounded almost inhuman escaped his lips.

Paige stepped toward him worriedly. "Walter, my god. Are you alright?"

She reached out and touched him hesitantly. He flinched at her touch, at first, and she almost pulled her hand away but then she started rubbing his back gently, finally feeling him relax under her fingers.

"Walter," she said softly completely taken aback by his confession and subsequent tirade but she knew he was telling her the truth. She just knew it. And for a man who claimed to have no emotions, he was an emotional train wreck sometimes. He just bottled them up and bottled them up until they erupted like Vesuvius. "Just breathe," she encouraged gently and she felt his breathing even out.

Walter was silent for almost two minutes before he spoke quietly. "This is the first time I've been able to breathe all weekend."

"Oh, Walter," Paige murmured. She was torn between being confused and angry and elated and sad. "What have you done to us?"

Walter shrugged but didn't answer because he knew she was right. This was all his fault and now he didn't know how to make it right, if it was even possible to make it right.

"Why did you let me believe you didn't feel anything for me?"

"I had to," he muttered as he focused on the feel of her hand on him. It felt like it was the only thing holding him together at the moment.

"No you didn't," she insisted sharply and he flinched before he stood up and away from her. She looked as miserable as he felt. "You deliberately chose to let me believe my feelings for you were one sided."

He looked at her. If what she said was true he hadn't lost her to Tim as he'd feared. So he wasn't about to let this possible second chance pass him by. He'd already said too much so what was a little more?

"I didn't understand what I felt for you. Romantic love has always been an illogical concept to me so I… I…didn't recognize or accept these feelings as love because I've never felt it, love I mean, or believed it was real."

"And you do now?" Paige asked as her arms dropped and it gave Walter hope because that was her silent way of saying she was receptive to something.

"I don't have a choice," he admitted honestly. "What I feel for you is so overwhelming and all encompassing; there is no other logical explanation."

Paige's lips curved. Everything in Walter's life came back to logic.

"I am completely ill equipped for this," Walter continued. She tilted her head as she held his gaze and the slight curving of her lips gave him the courage to continue. "Every relationship I've attempted has failed spectacularly. It's inevitable that I'll ruin this. I always do and the possibility of losing you because I fail at this is unfathomable. I can't lose you, Paige."

"Why do you think you'd lose me?" she asked quietly.

"Because I'm going to screw up."

"I probably will too," Paige said trying not to let the hope seep into her just yet. Too many times Walter said things that led her to believe there might be a chance for them but then he went and did something that completely derailed it.

Like dating Linda.

"I've never maintained a successful relationship," he admitted but that was not news to Paige.

"Neither have I," Paige said with a shrug. When he arched his brow like he didn't believe her she frowned at him. "Don't look at me like that. I've been no more successful than you. If I had, I'd still be with Drew."

Walter blanched at the mention of Paige's ex. When Drew returned it was the first time in his life Walter had ever felt jealousy. He'd never admitted it to anyone although Toby always seemed to see right through him.

Of course his first concern had been Ralph, worrying what his father's return would do to the young genius. But Walter would be lying if he said the thought of Paige and Drew together didn't make him as nauseous as the thought of Paige and Tim. In fact the thought of Paige and anyone, who wasn't him, made Walter feel like he would burst into flames.

"Paige, you don't understand," Walter insisted.

"Then explain it to me," she pleaded softly.

"I can't lose you," he said again. "Scorpion doesn't work without you. _I_ don't work without you. I know I always insist that it's about the greater good and Scorpion's survival but it's more than that. It's more than that now. I can't risk you."

"You take risks every day, Walter."

He shook his head. Why couldn't she see?

"Those risks are calculable. There are no statistical analyses to measure this." Walter motioned between the two of them. "If I screw this up I don't just lose my company, the only place I've ever felt safe, I lose you and I lose Ralph. I lose everything."

Paige wanted to reach out to him. He was opening up to her fully, for the first time, but she didn't want to spook him. "Walter you're not going to lose me if we try this and it doesn't work out. We're friends, first, and colleagues. And you will not lose Ralph. I will _never_ take my son from you."

"You almost did once," he said as his eyes slid away from hers, referring to a year ago when, first, Ralph and then he almost died.

Paige knew he still carried the scars from that night, both the physical and emotional. She did too. They'd never talked about it and she knew they should have but neither one of them wanted to remember the way they'd hurt each other that night.

"I know," she admitted honestly. "And it was a mistake."

Walter pursed his lips as he looked back at her. "You threatened to, again." When she looked confused he continued. "The day I snapped at Ralph about his project."

Paige sighed sadly. "I shouldn't have said that, Walter. We were all on edge and I'd never seen you speak to Ralph that way and my first instinct was to protect my son."

"As it should be."

She took a chance and took a step closer to him. "But I don't need to protect him from you." His eyes filled with relief and his lips curved with a small smile. "I know you didn't mean it. And I heard what you said to him on the roof. I know you only ever want to protect him and there is no one I trust more with him, Walter."

Walter felt her words settle in his chest. "I'm sorry for what I said earlier," he apologized. "It was nasty and cruel and I'd like to say I didn't mean it but at the time I did. Even though I know it isn't true."

Her eyes softened having already forgiven him. "You always lash out when you feel threatened."

"That's ridiculous," he scoffed before he sighed, in response to her skeptical look, and admitted reluctantly, "I might do that periodically."

But even though she'd forgiven him she wasn't about to let him off the hook just yet. His verbal filter has improved tremendously over the past two years but it still needed work. "What you said _was_ nasty and cruel and you never should have said something like that in front of Ralph."

Walter pursed his lips and looked down, properly chastised. "I'll apologize to him tomorrow. He should never see anyone, especially me, disrespecting you."

Paige stepped even closer, taking a chance and lifting her hands to his face. He stiffened but didn't pull away like she thought he might.

"Walter, look at me," Paige said quietly and he did as she asked, his eyes lifting to meet hers. "What do you want from me?"

He looked surprised by her question and she could see in his eyes that his brain was debating every possible scenario based on what he intended to answer.

"I don't know if you really want me to answer that honestly."

Paige slid her fingers into his short hair as she stepped ever closer. Her thumbs caressed his cheeks and she could have sworn she felt him tremble slightly.

"I don't want anything but honesty from you, Walter, from now on."

He nodded in agreement, inhaling a shuddering breath, even as his hands lifted of their own volition. He gripped her hips, pressing his fingertips into the soft flesh as he tugged her closer.

"What do you want from me?" she asked again and he held her gaze.

"Everything," Walter answered honestly and it was Paige's turn to tremble. The conviction with which he said that one word shot through her and turned her hope into elation.

Neither one of them knew who moved first but suddenly his lips were on hers. Paige pressed her soft body against him as she hiccupped and her mouth opened, granting him access as the kiss deepened. It was reminiscent of the one they shared almost a year earlier, only this time his arms and hands clutched her closer whereas last time he hadn't dared touch her. This time the kiss was slightly less frantic yet more passionate. This time Walter had no intention of letting her go.

They both stumbled from the intensity of it and Walter felt the arm of the sofa press into his thigh before he turned them and moved around it. Paige's fingers clutched and tugged at the short strands of his hair and he grunted into her mouth, pulling her tighter against him, feeling every last soft, curved inch of her molding against his body.

He could have sworn it wasn't intentional but even with his lust addled brain Walter quickly realized they were both deliberately moving toward his bed in the far corner of the room.

The taste of her was intoxicating and Walter felt lightheaded and dizzy and for the first time in his life he welcomed the loss of control.

Paige was in his arms.

She was kissing him.

She hadn't slept with Tim.

Therefore everything was right in his world.

* * *

Thanks again for reading and reviewing. Final chapter to come soon.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Scorpion or the characters. If I did it would be an HBO series….. not CBS.

Finally we've come to the end of this little tale. I hope it was worth the wait.

Thanks to all for reading and I appreciate the reviews if you're so inclined to leave them. Please remember, all the writers here appreciate when the readers take the time to leave a few words.

This chapter is why this story is rated M. You have approximately eighty six hundred words of smut ahead of you… so you've been duly warned.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

Walter released a low groan into Paige's mouth as they continued stumbling in the direction of his bed. He wrapped one arm around her waist, clutching her against him as the other hand slid up under her hair to grip the back of her neck, holding her captive as he kissed her. Paige's fingers flexed in his hair and tugged a little harder as she whimpered into his mouth.

As a rule Walter wasn't easily aroused, it usually took all his concentration for his body to react and prepare itself for action, on the seldom occasions he engaged in carnal pleasures. He had physical needs like any other man, but so much of his focus was on intellectual pursuits that Walter rarely had the time or the inclination to engage in physical ones.

He would go months without so much as thinking about it and it was usually more efficient to just handle it himself when the need arose. His aversion to touch made it easy to ignore the sometimes deep tugging and throbbing in his groin. And when he did decide to seek out a woman to assuage those physical needs, when the tugging became too much to ignore and his own hand no longer satisfied, Walter sought a professional. It was a quick, efficient transaction. As Toby would say, "get in, get off, get out." Professional escorts would abide by his requirements for minimal touching without complaint or expectation and he would be able to release that built up tension quickly and efficiently, so he could get back to the important things in his life.

But as he kissed Paige, felt her tongue tangle with his slowly and sensually as her soft body writhed against him and she whimpered into his mouth, Walter felt his body responding. A pulsing, tingling, aching sensation started low and deep in his abdomen before traveling lower. It was a foreign sensation, stronger than any physical reaction his body ever had, previously.

The feel and the taste of her filled him and for the first time in his life, without any effort on his part, Walter's shaft began to thicken and harden. Of course his body worked like other men's. He often woke with a morning erection indicating his body was in healthy working order. It was just part of being a normal healthy man. But it typically took concerted effort on his part to become aroused. However, for the past two years, almost virtually since he met Paige, but particularly since just before his accident, Walter found he had less control over the physical reactions of his body.

He wasn't sure how to reconcile that but, at the moment, Walter couldn't care less. All he wanted to do for the foreseeable future, at least for the next several hours, was to learn every inch of Paige's body. He wanted to learn what made her tremble and sigh and moan. He wanted to catalogue and memorize every reaction she had to his touch, every movement and response she made, and he wanted to feel her wrapped around him, hot and wet and tight, as he lost himself inside her until _nothing_ existed but her. He wanted to show her, in the way he knew normals showed one another, that he loved her and she'd become everything to him.

So he stopped and tore his lips away from Paige's, groaning internally at the loss. He had no doubt Paige realized the direction which they were stumbling and he needed to be honest with her before they went any further.

"Paige," he groaned her name softly and she pouted briefly before latching her lips onto his chin and nibbling gently along his jaw.

"Paige, w…wait," he said again, his voice hoarse, as his eyes crossed. She hummed but didn't stop as she pressed closer, her fingers crawling through his short hair and her short nails lightly scratching his scalp. It made him want to chatter like Ferret Bueller. No wonder the small animal constantly sought her out to stroke and scratch him.

Walter gripped her hips. She felt better beneath his fingers than he ever imagined and he flexed his fingers as the urge to run his hands over her entire body flooded him. But her ministrations were clouding his mind too much and he was losing all sense of his surroundings. Paige rolled her hips against him and his first instinct was to push her away but, instead, he clutched her closer as she moaned against his ear as she reached it.

"Paige," he choked her name a third time when he felt her teeth sink into the lobe. He pulled back, overwhelmed by the sensations thrumming through his entire body. "I… I….need… to…to…s…say something."

Paige tilted her head back and let her fingers slip out of his hair and down his neck as she looked at him, her eyes heavy lidded and dark, full of a hunger Walter had never seen directed at him by any woman in his past.

Paige inhaled softly at the way Walter was looking at her. It was a combination of desire, an intensity in his eyes that was new and so very welcome. But she also saw an anxiety, almost uncertainty, swirling in the dark depths and she was hit with the realization that she was overwhelming him. It made her feel guilty and triumphant at the same time.

She cupped his face in her hands again unable to stop touching him now that he was letting her. "We're moving too fast, aren't we?" she asked softly.

Walter blinked his eyes and swallowed. "A little," he admitted quietly.

Paige dropped her hands and moved to step back, willing to give him some space but Walter's grip on her hips prevented it.

"I don't want you to move away," he said as he frowned. "I just need to tell you something before this goes any further."

"We don't have to do this tonight, Walter," Paige said, both her voice and her eyes reflecting her understanding.

"I want to," he blurted out abruptly, stunned that he meant those words, unequivocally, and then he pursed his lips when he realized how desperate he sounded. But his conviction made her entire body flush with anticipation. "I just don't want…. I mean, uh, I just want….uh, I just need….damn it! I sound like a fumbling teenager," Walter growled frustrated.

Paige lifted her right hand again and rested it on his chest.

"Just breathe, Walter," she said to him for the second time that night as her lips curved softly. "Although I have to admit I've always found your stumbling and stuttering incredibly sexy."

"Well that's just bizarre," he said in response without thinking. Paige laughed as he stiffened and his eyes widened when he realized he said the words out loud, but she wasn't offended in the least because it was _just so him_.

"What I, uh, mean is…." he started but she lifted the fingers of her left hand to his lips as she continued to chuckle.

"I know what you meant, Walter. It's okay. What do you want to tell me?" She encouraged as she lowered her hand beside the other one on his chest.

He inhaled a deep breath and his eyes, again, filled with hesitation. He pursed his lips as he debated exactly how to say what he wanted to say. She looked at him in that patient way she had, like she would willingly wait as long as it took him to gather his thoughts, so he decided to just say it.

"I've never done this before."

Paige's eyes widened and she hiccupped the word "oh" as her fingers flexed in the fabric of his shirt. She figured he probably wasn't very experienced but she assumed he'd had sex at least once.

Walter's lips curved up into a wry smirk as he watched her digest his words. It didn't take a genius to know what she was thinking.

"Paige," he said her name when she just bit her bottom lip and continued to look at him wide-eyed. For once the Scorpion liaison was at a loss for words and Walter found he liked to be able to render her speechless once in a while.

She started to open her mouth but he said her name again before she could speak.

"Paige, I don't mean I haven't, previously, engaged in sexual intercourse."

She sighed with relief and it was Walter's turn to chuckle. Her lips curved sheepishly and she ducked her head slightly. She was so beautiful. Why had it taken him so long to see it?

Walter lifted his hand to her face and caressed her cheek urging her to look at him. Her skin was warm and soft and she felt perfect under his fingertips.

"I should have clarified what I meant," he said as he looked at her. "I'm, uh, familiar with the mechanics of the act but it has always been a means to an end for me. There has never been an emotional connection with any of the women I've been with. I've never been with a woman I…. love because…." He paused briefly before he said the words that had been almost suffocating him to keep inside. "I've never loved anyone before you."

Paige's eyes softened as she fell a little more in love with the man in front of her. He was a man who had denied himself love and affection and emotional connection because he was incapable of processing it. But he had evolved so much in the short time they'd been in each other's lives and, while she was infinitely grateful to him for coming into her and Ralph's lives, she was just as grateful to whatever it was in the universe that brought her into his life.

Because he was a man who needed love and understanding, and unconditional acceptance, probably more than anyone. And he had so much of his own to give.

She was under no illusions that loving Walter O'Brien would be easy, nothing about the man was easy, but she knew it would be worth it.

He was worth it.

In response to his confession Paige tilted her face up and kissed him softly, giving him what she hoped was reassurance. Both of his arms wrapped around her and he clutched her closer, inhaling a shuddering breath as he returned the kiss, his lips moving against hers until she pulled back.

Walter pursed his lips and he frowned when she pulled away again. He'd never put much stock in kissing, never really enjoying it, not seeing the point of it. He knew it was expected in a relationship and that was the only reason he'd ever done it. But kissing Paige was different. The feel and taste of her lips on his was intoxicating and he didn't want to stop.

And each time she pulled away made him want her more. It was a new and confusing feeling for him.

"There's no pressure here, Walter," she said softly.

"It's been quite a while since….. and…" he started to reply but she just shook her head.

"It's been a long time for me, too," she admitted as her fingers crawled up his chest and she began fiddling with the top button of his shirt.

"I, uh, don't want to disappoint you," he admitted quietly and he watched her face as her eyes dropped to where her fingers were slowly moving down his chest, releasing the buttons on his shirt, one by one.

Paige briefly wondered if she was being too bold, but if the feel of his hands clutching at her, almost desperately, and the feel of his hips pressed intimately against her own was any indication, he clearly wanted her as much as she wanted him. But she knew they needed to take it slow and a sultry smile curved Paige's lips. She really enjoyed slow.

"I don't expect any more than you're capable of giving me, Walter. There is no right or wrong here." She looked up at him again as her hands reached his waistband and tugged his shirt out of his pants. "You said you love me."

It wasn't a question but he felt compelled to answer her. "Yes," he breathed as he shuddered. "And I…..I….. only state, uh, facts," he stuttered.

"Then just show me.…." she encouraged him breathlessly as she released the last button on his shirt and pushed the fabric open revealing his undershirt. His stomach muscles clenched as she tugged his t-shirt out of his pants and fluttered her fingertips against the skin of his abdomen. "…..and the rest will fall into place," she finished as she looked up at him.

His body had calmed slightly but as her fingers circled around his belly button, his shaft twitched and hardened even more, and he wanted her to feel what she did to him so he yanked her closer, making her squeak softly.

Any other time Walter would likely tell her she was being naïve and, as Toby liked to say, "cheesy", but he wanted to believe her, wanted to believe she was right. So, instead, Walter leaned forward and kissed her again. He trailed his tongue along her bottom lip and she opened her mouth, once again, granting him the access he sought.

Paige's arms slid up over his shoulders as she now began guiding them in the direction of his bed. She moaned into his mouth as his hands slid down and gripped her ass holding her against him as they moved. Walter groaned as his fingers sank into the soft flesh of her ass but it quickly turned into a grunt as he felt the back of his legs hit the edge of the mattress.

Paige tore her lips away and Walter growled. "Stop doing that!"

She laughed breathlessly, the sound tinged with lust. She pushed gently on his chest and he sat down on the bed with a quiet thud. She cupped his face in her hands and leaned down to kiss him again. Walter's hands gripped the outsides of her thighs as she guided him backward and crawled over him as she straddled his thighs. Their lips parted, briefly, and they both inhaled deeply before Paige's were on his again, kissing him soft and deep.

Walter's fingers slid up over her hips and around to her ass again. He tucked his fingertips into the waistband of her jeans and she rolled her hips forward making him grunt. Paige pushed on his chest gently for leverage, pulling her lips away, and sat up.

Walter frowned, one again disappointed with the loss of her lips against his. He looked up at her, struck for the second time that night by how beautiful she was. He'd always found her aesthetically pleasing to look at. He had eyes and he'd known she was a beautiful woman right from the moment he met her, but those kinds of things mattered little to him. It was the woman she was on the inside. The kind, generous, caring, patient and understanding woman she was that truly made her beautiful. It was rare that a person's personality matched their physical attributes, but Paige was absolutely one of them.

She smiled down at him as her fingers slipped his t-shirt slowly over his stomach, pushing it up as she let her fingers explore the muscles as they clenched beneath her fingers. Walter held as still as he could, letting her explore, but it was challenging not to wiggle away. His body and mind were completely conflicted because one wanted her touch and the other still had a difficult time processing it.

Paige was an extremely tactile person and he'd slowly gotten used to her propensity to touch him, particularly when they were alone. She always seemed to find a way to touch him, from the brief fleeting brush of her hand along his arm as she walked by him, to the way she gently rubbed his back when she encouraged him or wanted him to know she was there to offer her support, like the time in Megan's hospital room.

He'd taken all those little touches for granted. He'd become so used to them that they almost seemed normal to him. But the way she was touching him now was very different and he swallowed as he watched her tongue slip out and over her bottom lip before her eyes met his. Walter bucked his hips beneath her and she smiled as she leaned down and kissed him again.

Walter hummed in the back of his throat and slipped his fingertips slightly lower into her jeans, pushing her down against him. Their lips parted and Paige kissed a wet path over his chin and down his neck, swirling her tongue over the stubble that had grown over the weekend. He clearly hadn't shaved since Friday and, even though it was slightly rough, making her lips and tongue tingle, it wasn't uncomfortable. In fact, Paige found it incredibly sexy.

Walter was feeling lightheaded again. Every nerve ending in his body was on alert and he couldn't think straight. All he could do was feel her. And although he'd wanted this, wanted _her_ like this, Walter wondered if he could actually go through with this. He knew he was the one who should be worshiping her, but he couldn't get his brain to or body to cooperate. Her lips on him just felt too damn good.

Paige felt the hard outline of his shaft pressing through his pants and she rolled her hips forward and back, moaning against his neck as his zipper pressed against the seam of her jeans. A rush of arousal soaked her panties and she whimpered softly against the skin of his throat.

Suddenly Paige found herself on her back as a quiet "oomph" escaped her lips. Walter's entire body had jerked and bucked like he'd been electrocuted and he rolled them before she could even comprehend what he was doing. His legs straddled her thigh, one knee between hers as he pushed up on his hands, holding his body above hers. He buried his face in her neck as he expelled harsh panting breaths, trying to calm his pounding heart.

When the shock subsided, Paige reached up and slid her fingers through his hair again and pressed her lips to his ear.

"I'm sorry," she murmured contritely, knowing she'd taken it too far. But she couldn't help it, couldn't stop herself. It had been so long since she'd been with a man, likely longer than Walter had been with a woman, and she couldn't stop herself from the instinct that had taken over.

Walter shook his head. "No, don't apologize. I just need a minute," he murmured against her skin. "It's too much and I just need a minute to psyche myself up." Paige released a soft chuckle and Walter lifted his head out of her neck to look at her. "Uh, that didn't…. what I mean is…. I just need a…a minute to let my brain catch up with my body."

"I know what you meant…..again," she said with a soft smile as she brushed her thumb over his bottom lip.

And he knew she did. He knew she understood how out of his depth he was at the moment and, as always, she was willing to give him the time he needed to get his bearings. She always seemed to know what he needed, almost before he did, and he wondered how that happened without him noticing.

When the feeling of fire rushing through his body subsided, Walter leaned down and kissed her again, fusing his lips gently with hers and Paige sighed into his mouth as she opened her own. He took her invitation and pushed his tongue past her lips and when it met the tip of hers, he deepened it. For several long minutes, all he did was kiss her. Long, slow, wet kisses, a type of kissing he'd never experienced, their lips only parting when oxygen became a necessity, but Walter knew he wanted to kiss her like that for the rest of his life. That kind of thought should startle and panic him but Walter found it sent a rush of warmth through his body.

Soon Paige's hands slipped from his hair and down his neck. Her fingers flexed as they slowly moved lower, over his shoulders and down his back. He still wasn't letting any part of his body touch her but his lips but her nimble little hands were _everywhere_.

Kissing Paige felt so natural, like he was meant to do it. It was completely illogical but it felt like her lips were made for his, like every part of her was made for him.

But soon kissing wasn't enough for either of them and Paige shimmied her way up the mattress, clutching at him all the while, until she was half way up, and Walter crawled over her, moving with her. Unable to no longer touch her, he slid his hand up the side of her body and she arched her back, stretching, as she released him and reached down to pull her own shirt out of her pants before she tugged it up her torso.

Realizing what she was doing, Walter pushed up on his hands and watched her raptly as she revealed her body to his gaze. She wiggled out of her shirt, pulling it over her head and tossing it off to the side. His eyes traveled unabashedly down her to her breasts, still encased in her black lace bra, and his eyes darkened as he memorized every new inch of her. He would be lying if he said he hadn't fantasized long and hard about her breasts and even though he had yet to fully see them, Walter felt his eidetic memory already cataloguing every freckle and mole she had from her neck to her naval.

"Lovely," he murmured as he lifted one hand, reaching out to touch her but then he stopped with his hand in mid air, hovering over her.

Paige's lips curved as she watched him, seeing his hesitance. He needed encouragement and permission, she knew, so she reached for his hand and guided it to her breast, urging him to touch her. His brow furrowed in concentration as his fingers wrapped around the soft globe and flexed.

"Walter," Paige moaned his name and he looked up at her, quickly, thinking perhaps he'd squeezed too hard but her dark heavy-lidded gaze told him he was doing something right, especially after he felt her hand tighten around his urging him to squeeze her breast a little harder.

He leaned down over her again burying his face in her neck, his lips brushing softly as his tongue swirled in circles over her warm flesh. Paige turned her head and pressed her lips to the soft spot just behind his ear as she arched her back, pushing her breast into his hand. Walter brushed the pad of his thumb over her nipple feeling it harden beneath the fabric and his mouth watered as he filled with the longing to wrap his lips around it.

The feel of Paige's fingers tugging on the hem of his t-shirt distracted Walter, for the briefest second, and he pushed up onto his knees before divesting himself of both his button down and the t-shirt beneath.

Without so much as a word, he immediately leaned down again bracing both his hands on the mattress beside her arms and buried his face between her breasts. He moaned long and low as the soft flesh of her cleavage wrapped around his face.

"Oh god, Walter," Paige moaned above him and he smiled against her skin.

To say she was surprised when Walter just pressed his face between her boobs, would be an understatement, but Paige instantly realized it meant he was a breast man and she silently thanked the universe because her breasts had always been her second most sensitive erogenous zone, with her inner thighs just above her knees being the first.

Walter shook his head gently and the sensation tickled, making Paige giggle quietly and she felt his smile widen.

"What are you doing?"

He lifted his head. "Ferret Bueller shoves his head between your breasts all the time. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about," he replied as he grinned.

"And what's the verdict?" she asked a she continued to chuckle.

"I think he's definitely on to something," he murmured as his eyes darkened, losing their teasing expression, and he bent down again and swirled his tongue against the soft swell of her breasts. Paige slid her hands up the back of his head, her fingers threading through his hair.

Paige felt another rush of arousal soak her panties and she exhaled a shuddering breath as Walter lavished every exposed inch of her breasts with open mouthed kisses. She arched her back deeper, bucking gently beneath him, before she released his hair and reached behind her back to unclasp her bra and free her breasts. Walter almost instantly nudged the lace aside with his nose as he pressed more open mouthed kisses against her skin slowly making his way toward the hard bud in the center.

Paige tugged the fabric away and her entire body jolted as she felt Walter's lips wrap around her nipple.

"Yessss," she hissed quietly as she threaded her fingers through his hair again.

Walter's hand covered her other breast and he rubbed the pad of his thumb against her other nipple. His tongue swirled around her areola, before flicking over the tip of her nipple as he suckled her softly. Paige wriggled and writhed beneath him as she slid her hands down his bare chest, over his abdomen and down over the front of his pants. She cupped his now fully erect shaft in her hands and squeezed him firmly.

This time he tore his lips away and buried his face in her neck, groaning almost in pain as he reached down and pulled her hand away.

"You're going to end this before it begins if you do that." He managed to choke the words out before Paige gripped his face in her palms and pulled his lips back to hers.

She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him down on her, her eyes fluttering when his bare chest pressed against hers. Her nipples tingled and ached as he deepened the kiss groaning, again, into her mouth. He pressed his pelvis against her and he throbbed as she rolled her hips beneath his slowly.

For several more long minutes they kissed, long and slow and deep. And for the second time she was briefly surprised he was capable of such passion. She thought it would be awkward at first for them as they got to know each other, as he relaxed and got out of his head. But it was almost instinctual. They didn't fumble with who tilted their head right or left. They didn't gnash their teeth together, although his tongue did fight hers for dominance. And she gave it to him, their lips clinging and releasing as she willingly surrendering to his kiss, letting him lose himself in her.

She'd heard her girlfriends in the past talk about how they could feel how their boyfriends or husbands loved them but she never understood it. Her time with Drew was so long ago and even though she didn't doubt he loved her, once, she didn't remember feeling this kind of intensity with him.

But then again he and Walter were very different men and Walter was full of intensity in every aspect of his life, so it really wasn't surprising that when it came to love and kissing and sex he exhibited that same focus and passion. It was slightly overwhelming for a few moments until she gave into it but then everything else vanished except him.

Soon the friction became too much and Walter had to pull away. He pushed up on his hands again, lifting his hips and reluctantly releasing Paige's lips. Instead of moving off her he rested her forehead against hers and caught his breath. Her warm shallow breaths blew against his lips as she reached up and caressed the side of his face.

"Is it too much?" she asked and Walter was grateful she understood.

"I just need a minute," he said.

"Is this too much?" she asked softly as her fingers gently massaged along the side of his head.

He shook his head and opened his eyes to look at her. Her eyes were closed and she was smiling and Walter gave into temptation and kissed her again.

"I don't like contact but I need your touch," he admitted honestly when he released her lips. "It calms me." He smirked when she opened her eyes and looked at him. "Well most of the time anyway."

Paige laughed softly and Walter felt like he could listen to that sound for the rest of his life.

"I want you," Walter said seriously, never taking his eyes off her.

"I'm yours," Paige said softly, but just as seriously, as she held his gaze. "I always have been."

A sound that resembled a low growl reverberated in the back of his throat and he was sure she was going to laugh at him and call him a caveman. He felt like one at that moment and it should have horrified him. But the sensation that flowed through his entire being when she said those words could not be denied.

He had to tell her again. "I love you, Paige."

"I love you," she breathed the words against his lips as she lifted her head off the bed and kissed him.

Yes, Walter was entirely positive he could spend the rest of his life kissing the woman beneath him.

He sank into her but remained on his knees, not letting his lower body come in contact with hers because he seriously suspected he might just blow his load.

Her hands were _everywhere_ , again, and when she slid her hands down his abdomen again, tugging on his belt, Walter knew she had reached her limit as well. He slipped his leg off the bed and tried to pull away but she just rose with him, moving to her knees in the center of the bed as he stood up. She was panting and flushed and her breasts were heaving with every breath she took.

Walter took a deep breath and then exhaled a shuddering breath as he reached for his belt buckle. Paige's lips curved into a sultry grin as she quickly unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans. She pushed them and her panties down her hips and then sat back to wriggle them down her legs, toeing off her sandals and letting all of it drop to the floor at the foot of the bed.

Walter stopped, his hand on his own zipper, and watched her, raptly, until she was completely naked in the middle of his bed. He blinked several times as he took in the sight of her. She was stunning in all her glory and Walter wondered what he'd done to deserve a woman as beautiful as Paige. He was a nerd, a tech geek, with bad social skills. He was often insensitive, had a stuttering problem when he became too overwhelmed and crazy wavy hair when he let it get too long.

She was beautiful, inside and out, and she could have any man she wanted. Yet she was here with him. She was looking at him with what he knew normal people often described as love in her eyes. She wanted him and she was willingly giving herself to him. Walter didn't believe in the existence of God, as it was a complete contradiction to the science with which he lived by, but if one existed, at this moment, he would be compelled to thank him.

Paige was completely unashamed in her nakedness. She usually dressed conservatively but she'd never been embarrassed or uncomfortable without clothes. Her body wasn't perfect, by any means, she had scars and too many freckles, for her taste, and the faint hint of stretch marks from when she carried Ralph, but she knew the few men who had previously seen her naked enjoyed the sight of her body.

But the way Walter was looking at her made her swallow and moan low in the back of her throat. He looked like he wanted to eat her alive and just that one thought caused lower abdomen clench with need and the air around them filled with the scent of her arousal. She could see his nostrils flair, but that was the only movement he made. She could tell he was immobile, so she smiled and tilted her head.

"You gonna join me in my birthday suit?"

Walter shook his head and cleared his throat and she laughed softly. His eyes whipped to hers and he saw the amusement reflecting in her dark depths. It was not her laughing at him but rather her appreciating his perusal. Walter knew he would never get the sight of her out of his mind and he'd never be able to look at her again, with clothes on, and not picture her exactly like this.

"You're beautiful," he blurted out unceremoniously and it made her smile.

"Thank you," she replied softly, and realizing he was not going to continue to remove his clothes without assistance, she crawled to the edge of the bed and reached her hand out.

He watched her but remained stock-still, his eyes following her as she moved closer. Without taking her eyes off him, she closed her fingers around his wrist and tugged his hand away from his zipper. She tucked her fingertips into his waistband and tugged him closer.

Walter swallowed thickly as he did as she silently commanded. Her fingers curled around his zipper and slowly tugged it down over his now painfully erect shaft. He gritted his teeth as the metal rubbed against the front of his boxers.

Paige lowered her eyes briefly then returned her gaze to his as both her hands gripped the sides of his pants and pushed them down over his hips. As he was released from the confines of his clothing, he felt a small measure of relief and he moved into action to assist her. He reached down and pulled off his shoes before stepping out of his pants and boxers. When he stood back up every part of his body was standing at full attention.

Paige kept her eyes on his face, not because she didn't want or was embarrassed to look at him, she wanted to give him time to feel comfortable being naked with her.

She placed her hands on his hips and leaned forward to press a kiss over his heart.

His arm came around her and pulled her against him as his other one lifted her chin so he could capture her lips again.

He grunted into her mouth as her naked body came in contact with his. He stiffened for one brief second, from the unfamiliar sensation, and then he let the feeling seep into him. This woman's naked body was going to spend a lot of time against his own, if he had anything to say about it, so he damn well better get used to it.

Paige wrapped her arms around him and she let him lead the kiss. She was so ready for him she thought her body was going to come apart at the seams. So she let him lead everything at that moment. Walter was a control freak in almost every aspect of his life, but she knew he was inexperienced and hesitant in this so she wanted to let him set the pace.

And it quickly became clear that he was setting it on overdrive when he leaned her backward, urging her back onto the mattress. He crawled over her again and kept his lips fused with hers as she moved up and settled in the middle of the bed, her thighs falling open as she leaned back. Walter settled his hips between her thighs and when he pressed down on her, felt how incredibly wet she was, he tore his lips away and inhaled a deep breath as he squeezed his eyes shut.

She reached up and cupped his face in her hands. She wished she had the strength to tell him that it was okay if he wanted to stop but Paige thought she would spontaneously combust if he did.

"Walter," she said his name gently as she kissed the corner of his mouth.

"No," he choked out as his eyes opened. "I… d..don't want to s…stop."

Relief flooded Paige's body and she smiled tenderly before pulling his lips back to hers. She kissed him slowly, feeling his body slowly relax against hers.

"Are you wet enough?" he mumbled the question against her lips. He wanted her ready for him because he didn't think he'd be able to stop once he started. It had been too long and he was about to blow as it was. This wasn't going to last long, of that he feared, but he wanted to make sure she was lubricated enough before he slipped inside her.

Paige closed her thighs around his hips and rocked them gently as she felt his shaft sliding along her slit. Her body was bathing him in her arousal but she didn't try to take him in.

"What do you think?" she smiled against his lips as his entire body shuddered on top of her.

"I need…." He started to say but then his eyes crossed as his head caught on her outer lips and, before he could stop himself, he pulled his hips back to give him a better angle before pushing forward again.

Paige hiccupped into his mouth as she felt him thrust into her. It wasn't slow. It wasn't careful. And she thanked god she was as wet as she was because it would have hurt like hell if she wasn't.

"Paige," Walter choked her name as he reached for her hands, pinning them to the pillow beside her head. He pulled his hips back and then thrust forward again, slipping a little deeper. Paige arched her back and tilted her hips down as he thrust again and again, each time slipping a little deeper, her body slowly giving way, until he was fully embedded inside her.

Walter was sure he'd never felt something so glorious in all his life. He'd been inside other women but he could have sworn none of them felt like this. His eidetic memory would have remembered _this_.

With each thrust Paige's body adjusted to the welcome intrusion. The slight discomfort that had been there, after not having a man inside her for so long, was gone. Her walls pulsed around him, hot and wet and tight, and she whimpered softly against his cheek.

Walter stilled when his pelvis was flush with hers, realizing he'd been ramming her without thought.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked, horrified, and Paige pressed her lips to his ear.

"You feel perfect," she whispered and he released a sound of relief as he captured her lips again.

Instinct took over and Walter started to thrust again. He started slowly, pulling back until just his tip was inside her before plunging forward again. With each thrust Walter sped up, his hips setting a steady rhythm as Paige lifted her hips to meet him. She lifted her legs and wrapped them around the back of his thighs and the new angle made Walter groan as he buried his face in her neck.

"I want to touch you," she begged and he released her hands. He pressed his into the mattress and pushed up a little so he had more leverage. Paige wrapped her arms around him and arched her back deeper, bearing down and it felt like a fist squeezing him.

He pumped and plunged into her, the length of his shaft sliding over her clit with each thrust and causing her thighs to tremble around his hips from the sensation. Walter pressed open mouth kisses against Paige's neck and throat as her hands caressed and gripped him eagerly. Walter welcomed every one of her touches and at that moment he never wanted her to stop touching him.

All too soon, Walter felt the telltale tingling starting in his balls. He gritted his teeth again and willed his body into control. Mind over matter had always worked for him but he quickly realized his body was not going to comply.

"Paige," he choked her name and she held him as her lips brushed against his cheek.

"It's alright, Walter. Don't wait for me."

Lovers orgasming simultaneously was a romantic notion that had very little basis in reality. One of the participants almost always came first. Who it was usually depended on the finesse and skill of the other. Walter knew he was not skilled in this kind of intercourse but he now knew he wanted to learn. He wanted to become a proficient lover so he could give Paige the same kind of pleasure that just her body taking him in gave him.

He could feel her walls pulsing and throbbing around him. He could tell she was close, but not as close as he was, and he didn't know what to do. But as a man who always thrived on learning, Walter sought the knowledge from the woman who was the expert on Paige's body.

"I want you to orgasm first," he murmured against her chin as he brushed his lips over her skin. "Tell me what to do," he said as his lips covered hers again. "Show me," he breathed into her mouth.

Paige smiled into the kiss. "Give me your hand," she said as she released his lips, all the while continuing to roll and circle her hips beneath him.

Walter stilled his hips, braced himself on his right elbow and gave her his left hand. She held his gaze as she lowered his hand down between them, slipping it over her mound as she pushed her ass into the mattress.

Walter pulled back slightly but still left his head inside her as Paige pressed his fingertips against her clit. And he needed no more instruction. Walter's fingers flicked against her and she gasped.

He groaned as her walls clenched around him and Paige bucked her hips gently as he circled her throbbing clit with his fingertips, learning and memorizing her every response. He watched with rapt attention as her hips rocked against his hand. Paige started to pant and she gripped the hair on the back of his head as she turned his face back to her.

"Kiss me," she begged and he obliged her. He felt his fingers brushing over his shaft as he slipped them lower and rubbed the pad of his index fingers on the underside of her clit before flicking up and over the tip.

Paige choked his name into his mouth as her body convulsed. She pulsed around him in long waves as her orgasm rolled over her. Walter pulled his hand away and pushed fully back inside her. He swallowed her cries of pleasure as he began pumping his hips again.

Paige clutched at him as she tightened her thighs around his hips. Walter slid his hands beneath her and down to cup her ass as he plunged into her. She continued to pulse around his invading shaft as he snapped his hips, pushing deep with long hard thrusts.

His body shuddered as his balls lifted and tightened and he thrust into one last time before he stilled his hips and exploded. He tore his lips from hers and buried his face in her neck again as he twitched and throbbed and Walter could have sworn he felt it down to the tips of his toes.

Paige held him tight, panting softly, as his body trembled on top of hers. He muttered her name and then several unintelligible words against her neck as she kissed the spot just below his ear.

"I love you, Walter," she whispered and she felt Walter tremble once more.

For several long minutes they stayed exactly as they were, the weight of his body pressing her into the mattress, his shaft softening inside her, and the only movement was her fingers fluttering gently up and down his back. Finally Paige had to lower her legs from around him because her back was starting to ache.

Walter grumbled a halfhearted protest and she laughed softly, the vibration of it flowed through Walter and he was once again struck by how much he loved her laugh.

He loved everything about her, her smile, her laugh, her mind, her heart and now that he'd had it, her body. Quite simply _he loved_ _her_. And now that he'd accepted and embraced it he intended to revel in it. And in her.

"You're getting a little heavy," she murmured as she lifted her head and kissed his shoulder.

With a sigh Walter slipped out of her and rolled onto his back beside her. He pulled her into his arms, not wanting to let her go just yet and she settled against his side as she rested her head on his chest.

Walter brushed his fingers gently up and down Paige's bare back and she hummed softly and pressed her lips just over his heart again.

Walter turned his face and nuzzled her temple. Her touch, as always, was welcome even though in the past he couldn't get out of bed fast enough once he'd finished. For the first time he wanted to stay.

Suddenly his entire body stilled.

"Uh, Paige?"

She lifted her head and looked at him curiously. "Is something wrong?"

"Now that my brain can think clearly again I just realized something."

Paige's lips curved at the knowledge that she made Walter O'Brien lose the ability to think clearly. There was something very gratifying about that.

"What's that?"

"Where's Ralph?"

Paige laughed softly as she leaned her face down and brushed her lips gently over the skin of his chest.

"Toby, Happy & Sly took him to Kovelsky's for dinner before I came up here."

"Well unless you want him to come back and find us like this we should probably get dressed."

Paige looked over at the clock. "It's only been about an hour. You know how they all get," she purred as she rolled onto her back, pulling Walter with her. He moved willingly as he rolled on top of her, setting between her thighs again. He pressed against her slick heat and groaned softly as he buried his face in her neck. His body reacted instantly, twitching, but that was all because it was still a bit too soon for him to do much else. However the wet heat of her felt glorious as Paige wrapped her arms and legs around him again, her lips brushing against the shell of his ear.

"They get caught up so we probably have at least another half hour before they're back," she moaned softly as her teeth gently grazed his earlobe and Walter's entire body shuddered on top of her. She released a breathy chuckle before trailing her lips along his cheek, nudging gently with her nose.

"Kiss me," she breathed softly and, once again, he did, turning his face and capturing her lips.

Walter rocked his hips between hers, rubbing the length of his shaft against her still tender flesh. He swallowed her whimper as he slipped his tongue between her lips, deepening the kiss, kissing her slowly as he savored the taste of her. Walter never wanted to stop kissing her now that he finally allowed himself to indulge. His previous assertion, that being affected by kiss and touch was junk science, was meaningless as he lost himself in her.

Paige rolled her hips slowly beneath him, their bodies moving in tandem and slowly Walter's body began to respond, his shaft beginning to thicken again. She trembled and panted softly into his mouth. But just as he was about push his partially erect shaft into her again Paige arched her back and tore her lips away pushing gently on his shoulders.

"Walter," she murmured. "Let me up."

"Huh?" Walter frowned wondering why she was pushing him away. She'd just pulled him down over her, was just about to take him in again, and he desperately wanted her one more time before the team and Ralph returned.

"There's something under my back." Paige wiggled, causing Walter to groan as her soft body moved against him. It quickly turned into a disappointed growl as he pulled his hips back and she shifted to reach her hand beneath her. "It's some kind of lump."

Reluctantly Walter pushed up on his hands and shifted to her right so she could lift slightly. His eyes widened as he saw what Paige pulled out from beneath her.

She held the item up with a puzzled expression on her face.

"Why is my sweater in your bed?"

* * *

Thanks again for reading. Next up the final chapter of _Salty Sweet_ …. finally. _Undercover_ … a multi-chapter fic I've been working on has been put on hold as I need to work through some failing plot points.

Instead I have another 2-4 chapter fic I'll start posting sometime in June. No sneak peek this time but just a title and log-line…

 _ **Matchmaker**_ \- When you have a boyfriend with a 197 IQ and a jealous streak he absolutely refuses to acknowledge, sometimes a woman has to take matters into her own hands. Set several months after the Season 2 finale.


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